Walnut, Apple and Quince Tart

Walnut, Apple and Quince tart

I’ve been rooting around in my dusty archived files looking for this delicious recipe that I originally posted on my old blog in October 2011. I had a real longing for this sweet and sticky tart, no doubt due to the fact that I’m just starting to collect this years walnuts and my kitchen is overflowing with ripe apples and quinces - I make no apology for the fact that most of my recipes are seasonal. This tart is equally as delicious when made with sliced apples or sliced quince although the original recipe (given to me many years ago) was just for a walnut tart so feel free to omit the fruit, but I think the crisp pastry, the fruity layer and the sweet crunchy topping all work very well together.

Pre-heat the oven to Gas 4.

Grease a flan dish (I use a 30 cm one) and line it with pastry (I use 100g butter rubbed into 180g plain flour and a pinch of salt, then brought together with a beaten egg and a small amount of water if necessary. This is then wrapped it in clingfilm and left in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling out). Ready-made pastry would work just as well, and would no doubt look far neater around the edges than my attempts, but I don’t worry about that as long as it tastes good.

Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, line with greaseproof paper and baking beans and blind bake for about ten minutes, until it is just starting to colour. Allow to cool slightly.

Spread a little quince jam all over the pastry base, then lay thinly cut slices of quince or apple, slightly overlapping each other, and sprinkle them with brown sugar. Place in the fridge while you prepare the walnut topping.

Walnut and Quince tart

3 tblsp butter

100g light brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

60ml of walnut liqueur or Cointreau

1 tsp vanilla essence

200g shelled walnuts

Melt the butter, stir in the sugar and then add the beaten eggs, liqueur and vanilla essence and mix well. Stir in the walnuts then pour this mix over the quince and carefully spread into an even layer. Bake until golden brown, approximately 45mins Gas 4. Allow to cool before serving.